Eights

rhumb: Thorough, precise, insightful reply, rhumb! And as m05fastbackGT noted, the current S197 roofline will be with us for awhile--and that's good! The resurrection of the '66 G.T. 350 roofline & C-pillar windows was a brilliant touch by the talented Hau Tai Tang!
Er, make that Hau Tai (Mus)Tang...

Give me the Giugiaro concept with the stock S197 sheetmetal forward of the doors and I will never own another car as long as I live.

We had pop open back windows on an Accord hatchback coupe we once had, and they were a plus on that car as it was not air-conditioned. We did not open them often, but then we rarely rode in the backseat--the kids in their carseats typically rode back there, and they never complained about being too hot. OTOH, we lived in The OC at the time where we never saw frost once in over eleven years and temps in the nineties or higher only during Fall's Santa Ana winds. The hatchback gave only the typical pneumatic lift problems, and never rattled IIRC.

Full fastback rooflines are beautiful--I loved the looks of my '69 Merc Cyclone CJ428 Ram-Air fastback, although the dark paint made it look less sleek than the same car in a light color. Although the distance from the rear extremity of the CJ's trunk to the back of the (non-fold-down) back seat was great, the trunk held disappointingly little--and loading the long, shallow trunk through the diminutive trunklid was a chore anytime and a royal pain sometimes. A hatchback woulda made that car!

rarecat

This thread is right on the money, I really hope this is the direction Ford takes with the next major redesign.....

OKLACOP

Having a 68 fastback and an 06 I feel the need to chime in here. I think Ford got the current body style right on. You all have done some great chops and I think the side views look really good. My problem is the rear views. I'll restate what others have already said........it's too boxy......................looks great from the side and looks like a hatchback from the rear. A fastback could be achieved, but some other aspects of the car will need to be changed as well to make it flow.

Von Bek

Eh, never been that much of a fastback fan. As is is good enough for me. However, I would like to see somebody come out with a more coupe looking model. Something along the lines of what a vert looks like with the top up, but as a hardtop.

05madmax

for those of you who arent familiar with thie article that came out kenny brown made a fast back custom here are a few shots

http://www.fordpower.net/gallery/sho...00/ppuser/9796

the pics dont do it justice though. i saw it up close and personal and it looks amazing.

kevinb120

The greenhouse as is looks fantastic now. The tricky part about tinkering with the S-197 styling is that its very, very easy to screw the whole car up. Even now, the more you add to the core body, the worse it looks. The KB version looks like the Rosie O'Donnell edition Mustang. Absolute crap. And you can't have more of an abomination then the Giugiaro concept. That looks like a concept car from 1986.

Route 66

For me, that's the best looking change on the current style Mustang I've seen. Looks like a beast that could kick you know what!

m05fastbackGT

The problem isn't due to the S-197's overall length. But it's actually the greenhouse itself, which needs to be stretched. This can be accomplished by switching the angles of the A-Pillar posts, and moving them forward. Then gradually angle the slope of the roofline, into the rear decklid.

m05fastbackGT

As for the Kenny Brown concept. I completely agree with Kevin. It looks like total crap, especially from the rear. As both the trunk, and rear window area look way too butt heavy and flat. thus exaggerate the car's high waisted beltline, even further than it already is..

05madmax

yea like i said the pics dont do it justice. when i saw it in person it just looks badass and definitely a reminesence of the retro mach and boss